PhotoScan by Google Photos

Turn paper photos into digital copies

PhotoScan by Google Photos is made for scanning printed photographs with an Android phone. It suits anyone sorting through family albums, boxes of snapshots, or older prints that are not yet backed up. Instead of treating a paper photo like an ordinary camera subject, the app guides you through several captures and combines them into one digital image.

A guided scan with less glare

The capture process uses four on-screen points to show where to aim the phone. Taking the image from several positions helps reduce reflections from glossy prints, while the app works to correct tilted angles and straighten the photo. It can also find the edges of a print, crop away the surrounding surface, and keep the final image correctly oriented.

This makes PhotoScan useful when a flatbed scanner would be inconvenient or when you want to work through a stack of photos at the table. The result depends on the condition of the original print and the lighting around it, but the workflow is simple enough for occasional users rather than only photography enthusiasts.

Part of the Google Photos workflow

Scanned images can be used with Google Photos for storage, searching, and further editing. That is useful if your existing photo library already lives there, although the app’s main job is the capture itself: making a cleaner digital version of a physical print.

At a glance

• Developer: Google LLC
• Category: Photography
• Rating: 4.1 out of 5 from 204,069 reviews
• Installs: 50,000,000+